The Weather Gods and Lady Luck...

I was really looking forward to racing in this morning's Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series Blizzard race. Ryan's parents had nicely agreed to drive up for the day and hang out with Samantha so that I could go to the race and run. It seemed like the perfect plan - I would have a chance to race and hang out with our Trail Monster friends, and Sam would get to spend the day with her grandparents. What could be better?! Unfortunately, the weather gods and Lady Luck just weren't on my side today. I started to get a sinking feeling yesterday afternoon when the weather forecast was calling for snow early this morning. We certainly couldn't ask Irene and Dana to drive up in bad weather just so I could race, and if they couldn't make it, then my race was over before it even started.

When I woke up around 6:15, it has just started to snow. The snow was very light, and hardly accumulating, but it appears the storm was a bit more intense further south. Irene and Dana were great sports and got on the road despite the snow, but ended up getting off the highway one exit later, after witnessing a few fishtailing cars, and experiencing their own white-knuckle driving due to the bad road conditions. I really really appreciate that they even got in the car and attempted to get up here - thanks guys!! I think we were all bummed - no race for me, no day spent with Sam. Silly weather!

So, Sam and I spent the day hanging out together. And that isn't a bad thing. I made us pancakes and we played and read and Sam took two good naps, which was nice. But I really was hoping to have the chance to try my hand at snowshoe racing and run in one of Ryan's races. He's worked really hard putting together this series, and I had hoped to be there to support him in person at at least one of the races. Ah well. Sounds like I missed one heck of a tough course, so maybe it isn't such a bad thing ;-)

I might have missed the race, but I figured I could at least get a run in today. So, when Ryan got home, I put on my shoes and headed out. It was a pretty afternoon - it was snowing very lightly and the sun was shimmering through the cloud cover. But my heart wasn't really in the run. I hit the snowmobile trails across the street, but they were horrible! (Valerie, if you ran through similar conditions for 10 miles yesterday, you are seriously amazing (or is it crazy?!)!) Wow. One or two sleds had gone through, and it seemed like the trail should be packed. In reality, the snow was sugary and loose. I don't think I took one truly forward footstep during the small 1/2 mile stretch of snowmobile trail I traversed. I twisted this way and that, sliding around in the snow. It was slow going, for sure, so when I got to Highland Green Road, I turned off the trails. However, I was in my screw shoes, and screw shoes on bare pavement isn't very nice either. Sigh. This wasn't exactly shaping up to be the best run. But, it redeemed itself slightly when I took the first turn I could, off onto the construction road which led to the dirt road at the back of the development. Here was a good surface to run on, finally! I ran out to the end of the dirt road, and then turned around and retraced my steps. However, for the final stretch, I took the Connector instead of the powerlines. I got in a good 5 miles, but I do wish it had been the 5 mile Blizzard course instead... Next year!!

Speaking of the Blizzard, congrats to all the Trail Monsters who had great races today, including Ryan, who finished third against some strong competition! Way to go, Snowman :-)